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1998 © Maddog Surf Shop, Australia.

When you think in the word "Werewolf" you almost may associate it with the word "halloween". This time however, I want to remove that link and put it about product and services. Here you can see some real world examples of interesting marketing concepts that break the rule and win the heart of people.

LOBO FORD PICKUP
Ford Motor Company Mexico, 1997-2006 MX

If you recall about it, isn't being so odd that a car have a name of an animal. I can say for example cases like Jaguar, Mustang and Ram Charger just for say some names. But some cars take the animal name so literally like our local Lobo pickup; almost all ads for TV of this pickup have a wolf! I picked some examples for you:

Spot 1: It shows the pickup running in a desert landscape, showing all the features of the new pickup. At the same time some howling wolves (maybe added by computer) are reflected in the pickup paint or runs behind the vehicle. An off-voice says: "Ford Lobo pickup, a superior lineage".

Spot 2: On this time, the scenario is a deep forest where a wolf runs freely behind the pickup in a sort of a hunt trip. At the top of a cliff the timberwolf howls at the moon, while the camera shows the pickup and again the off-voice says the slogan of the car.

Spot 3: This is real fun, the spot start making shots of the live of one of those small but still current old towns in the mexican country. Sombreros, señoritas, tex-mex cantina and people in horse are the common stuff you can imagine, except for a single detail: Everybody shakes like they were in the middle of an earthquake. The focus of the story shows the barbershop and a guy about to get shaved in that "shaky" moment. The guy grabs the arm of the barber and shouts: "Stop! Let that IT pass before continue". And in the window we can see that the earthquake is caused for the Lobo Ford Pickup who passes in the middle of the town. The off-voice says: "Ford Lobo Pickup imposes respect everywhere. Drive it if you can (or dare)!" and we get the common stills of pickups and wolves.

MAD MAGAZINE MEXICO - FOURTH SEASON (1993-1997)
Enigma Editores, 1996 MX

Well you know so well the MAD Magazine, but you didn't know that its editors tried to expand the madness to Mexico. I got this ad from one of the last issues of the Fourth Season: A very-very sad werewolf is going to suicide because he lost one number of the MAD magazines. He will use a gun with "Lone Rider" Silver Bullets (Good for get rid off werewolves and related bugs). The slogan says: "You will suicide because you miss a number? Better buy a subscription!" It seems that the werewolf did suicide in the end, because the magazine was killed in the next two issues. Maybe the horrible translation was the silver bullet for him. *grin*

UPDATE: Since 2004, another publisher "Mina Editores" tries luck with the odd kid, so this werewolf has come to live again! See some examples of the new local material in the comics section of this museum.

MADDOG SURFWEAR & ACCESORIES
MadDog Inc., 1996-2006 AU

The surf experts say that the best beaches for surfing are in Australia. Well, I'm not a surfing guy but I like the designs of Maddog tables. As you can see the dog guy looks more like a werewolf and because wolves and dogs are cousins. *grin* Okay the dog-guy is just cool, and if you like you can have t-shirts, key rings, surf tables and a world of merchandise about surfing werewolves for real!.

MONTANA PONTIANC PICKUP
Pontiac Motors, 2001 CA

Submitted by my brother Bleis: Go to camping may be a bad experience if you made a meat dinner and wolves come to pick some dinner too. But not if you have the Montana Pontiac! Up to 4 wolves can see a sheep movie in the build-in DVD player with personal headphones and artificial weather. So you can have the pack busy while you sleep in the night. Sweet Dreams.

[ QuickTime 7© Video - 1.6 MB ]

OH.YEAH.NET WOLF BANNER

OSRAM LIGHTS
Osram Inc, 1997 DE (Worldwide campaing)

A wolf pack runs across the forest on a full moon night, they runs so fast like they were on a hunt. Well, they run and run showing why a wolf is a great creature...just to sit down in the front of a miserable cottage with a light bulb and they start to howl to the bulb! The catchy phrase of this commercial spot is "There are light and there are OSRAM." :P

SAL DE UVAS PICOT STOMACH MEDICINE
Bristol-Meyers Squibb Inc., 1993 MX

This is a local stomach medicine brand and the spot was more or else like this: A man comes to office after lunch and feels so bad that he shapeshift into werewolf for the indigestion. So his secretary says "The boss shape-shifted again" *sigh*, and she gives him the medicine and becomes a human again. The legend says that is guy in werewolf costume is the director of movies like: "La Invención de Cronos" (Crono's Invention), Mimic and Marvel's Blade II: Guillermo del Toro.

RED WOLF BEER
Miller Brewing Co, 1990-2006 - US

Submitted by Jaos Wolf: "One showed a wolf lifting a leg... marking his territory... basically implying that he was pissing on Red Dog beer (Miller product). And the other commercial was two wolves trotting through the forest. The one talking about getting lucky tonight on a date. And then inviting the other wolf over to his place for some beer (red wolf). They both had run with the wolf at the ends. [..] The beer guy was telling us (when redwolf was released), they had a big meeting/party and they showed more red wolf commercials that would never make it on TV cause they were I guess kinda dirty. They did it for fun."

WOLF BRAND CHILI
ConAgra Foods Inc., 2006 US (Current brand holder)

Submitted by Sha-En: "The original Wolf Brand Chili recipe was developed in 1895 by a Texas ranch cook and Lyman T. Davis. Recognizing that they had something good, the pair brought their specialty by wagon to the oil boomtown of Corsicana, Texas. There they sold it for five cents a bowl in front of the Blue Front Saloon. By the early 1920s, the chili's great-tasting reputation had spread, so Mr. Davis began canning the chili. At the suggestion of a local photographer, Mr. Davis' pet wolf, Kaiser Bill, was selected to grace the label. Suddenly the chili had a name, Wolf Brand, which became as famous as its flavor".

THE WOLF BREWERY
The Wolf Brewery Co, 2004-2006 - UK

I think that there are too many beer brands in the world that use the wolf name. But this one is maybe the funniest, the Wolf Brewery at UK have a huge assortment of wolf brands for any time. I choused three for show to you: Wolf in Sheeps Clothing, a mild beer for people who don't want to get drunk easily; Golden Jackal, the only one approved by Anubis' seal of quality and Stout the family-size beer for family-sized werewolves. ;)

WOLFMAN PIZZA
No company info available, 2003?-2006 US

I founded this one reading some comments from The Werewolf Café so the wolf treat is for the wolf pack that post in this site. :) Well, despite the few clues I had for start, I could be able to find a dinning chart from Charlotte, NC. Wolfman Pizza delivers California Pizza style in several meaty flavors. The pizzas related with werewolves are: Big Bad Wolf, it’s got sausage, pepperoni, red onion and mushrooms, with green peppers, black olives, and banana peppers. Howlzone Traditional, stuffed with Italian sausage, pepperoni, banana peppers, red onions & mushrooms, w/red sauce & mozzarella cheese. And Fowlzone, roasted chicken breast & fresh basil, sun-dried tomato pesto, red onion, mozzarella, and ricotta with a light red sauce. It sounds very tasty! Sadly the page doesn't have the official link or any other extra information. :/

YG-X UNDERWEAR
Gunze Ltd., 2001-2006 JP

Are you "Sexy" as a werewolf using YG-X underwear? Grooowwl! Yeah that we're sexy! Hehe! Well it's up to you about that matter, but for sure this is a cool ad campaign from Japan. Oddly the ads only showcase two wild or mad werewolves that just growls to the screen. Anyway is a very good work of animation and even you can visit the YG-X official website for some goodies.

[ QuickTime 6© Video - 820 KB ]

VITA DRINK?
Unknown manufacturer, 2001 JP

Submitted by Kaosa Gaou: Seems a lemon (?) drink maybe for sports use or some natural/artificial flavor. Since I never got a reply from more info about this label (I can't read Japanese) I post the image here with the hope to get some help with this one.

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